Injured coyote rescued at Iona beach on Sunday

A wet and upset-looking coyote was rescued from Richmond’s Iona Beach Regional Park after it was reported injured on Sunday afternoon.

Nathan VanderKlippe, who was on the Iona beach jetty, took to Twitter to give the public a minute-by-minute update of the rescue.

The drenched coyote was first spotted sitting on the rocks, next to the water, on the north side of the Iona jetty in a couple photos posted by VanderKlippe.

“First came the critter rescue people. A barefoot rescue attempt was made,” reads VanderKlippe’s post.

However, the coyote had “burrowed beneath the rocks” when rescuers came with a cage.

The Canadian Coast Guard was called in and arrived in a hovercraft to help with the rescue.

According to VanderKlippe, the coyote had a broken leg and was “not keen to emerge from its shelter” possibly because of the rescuers, gathering crowds and the hovercraft.

The coyote was eventually rescued and taken away by the hovercraft.

“Now the coyote is off to wherever rescued coyotes go,” said VanderKlippe.

The Richmond News has reached out to the Canadian Coast Guard for comment.